Monday, September 07, 2015

Shortly after the start of the 2nd intifada, when Ariel Sharon’s footsteps on Temple Mount were being blamed for every other Palestinian home conveniently possessing an illegal weapon, my love affair with online forums began in earnest. It was an interesting time, and experience soon taught me the difference between those that ‘know’ and those that ‘think’.
Despite the anonymity that forums provide, online sentiments were still far more guarded then than they are now (although it didn’t seem that way at the time), and if you truly felt the need to face a barrage of blatant anti-Semitism, then outlets such as Stormfront or Icke were the place to be. I remember spending months reading posts about the scientific ‘proof’ that Auschwitz didn’t contain gas chambers. I think the most absurd argument I was ever involved in, was with a proud ‘denier’ regarding the death count from the Warsaw Ghetto; these people are fanatics to the extreme and there is no limit to the conspiracies they wish to create. Those discussions are not for the faint hearted.However absurd it might sound, there is a comfort in the familiarity of arguing against the easily identifiable form of classic anti-Semitism; these people after all, wear their hatred like a badge. The poison they carry is clearly labelled, and unlike other sources and forms of anti-Semitism, it is neither dressed up nor marketed as treacle syrup. There is also near universal condemnation, and if a Jew stands up to a modern day Nazi, he is likely to find a fair number of different groups on his side. Fascism is the comfort zone of the argument on anti-Semitism; but what then of anti-Semitism outside of the comfort zone, anti-Semitism disguised as something it is not, anti-Semitism being sold as treacle syrup?Having set up camp in opposition to the University of Southampton’s support of Oren Ben Dor’s proposed conference earlier this year, I developed a solid fascination with the writings of those like Ben Dor; people in the UK, who were born in Israel and who for whatever reason adamantly oppose all things Zionist. Whilst I was always aware of them, it is over the last few months that I have become far more acquainted with their positions, and people such as Atzmon, Pappe & Ben Dor have hardly a piece published on Israel, Jews or Zionism that I have not recently read. Along with Jewish non-Israelis like Blumenthal, their written output is craved by and disseminated on every anti -Zionist and anti-Semitic outlet on the web; Pro-Palestinian sites use them to fight the pro-Israeli message, whilst anti-Semitic sites market them as Jewish whistle blowers exposing the global Jewish conspiracy.

Clearly, a Corbyn-led U.K. would not be friendly to the Jewish state.One of the very few members of the U.K. Jewish community proudly standing with Corbyn is Rhea Wolfson, who serves as the campaign manager for the Young Labour Party. According to her Linkedin profile, she also serves as Communications and Outreach Manager at New Israel Fund U.K.. Indeed, her photo is prominently featured on NIF’s U.K. website. Wolfson says Corbyn “offers something different,” commenting that his “straight talk” has swayed her.This is not surprising. Corbyn’s views on a boycott of Israel precisely mirror the position of the NIF. He recently remarked, “Is it right that we should be supplying arms in that situation? Is it right that we should be importing goods made in illegal settlements across the West Bank? Wouldn’t a stronger message be to those Israelis who want to live in peace with the Palestinians – and there are very many people in Israel that do, we recognize that – that the process of some economic measures might be helpful?”
Hamas also praised Corbyn. In an article in The Telegraph this weekend, Hamas Deputy Foreign Minister Ghazi Hamad said, “I find that [Corbyn] has very good sympathy and support for the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian struggle and he is frankly against the occupation, against the racist policy of Israel, against settlements.”
In 2010, the Knesset pursued an investigation into the New Israel Fund. At the time, Yisrael Hasson, MK from the centrist Kadima party and former deputy director of the Shin Bet security services, implied that the NIF could be receiving funds from Israel’s sworn enemies. During that period, he was quoted in the Israeli media saying, “If I were Al-Qaeda, I wouldn’t think twice, I would give to them.”
Birds of a feather flock together.

Bassem Tamimi’s version was of course vague enough to allow both of them to fill in details and dramatize as needed when they were asked a few days later how their son had broken his arm. Bassem Tamimi chose to come up with the frightening scenario of a tank ploughing through the village, forcing his son to flee in panic; whereas his wife felt the need to invent the very different scenario of an IDF attack on the house, because she wanted to justify her insistence that it was best for her children to be sent out to confront soldiers.
Both obviously counted on the credulity of the reporters and didn’t expect to be asked for any evidence. Their son had a cast on his arm – who would doubt that in some way or other, a vicious act of the brutal “IOF” was to blame? One can only wonder how often the Tamimis have played the same game without being caught as liars.
But worse than their lies and their shameless manipulation of the media – which, after all, love to be fed the kind of stories the Tamimis are eager to provide – is their ruthless exploitation of their children. It emerged in the comments responding to Nariman Tamimi’s post that this was already the second time that her son Mohammad had broken his arm, presumably under similar circumstances. But when a concerned friend suggested it was “enough” and time to stop, Nariman Tamimi defiantly responded “Either victory or martyrdom.” It is a terrible thing to say, but given the way the Tamimis have exploited their children so far, it seems not unthinkable that they might ultimately consider the “martyrdom” of one of them a “victory.”
And make no mistake: the “victory” for which the Tamimis are fighting is not the peaceful co-existence of the Jewish State of Israel and an Arab-Muslim Palestinian state. In various interviews published on sites that oppose Israel’s existence as a Jewish state – such as the “hate-site” Mondoweiss and The Electronic Intifada (from where an interview conducted by the notorious Max Blumenthal was even cross-posted on the website of the Al-Qassam Brigades), Bassem Tamimi has indicated that he is a determined proponent of the so-called “one-state-solution” that would absorb the world’s only Jewish state into yet another Arab-Muslim majority state.

On the 43rd anniversary of the Munich massacre, perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists against Israeli athletes during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Germany, a well-known antisemitism scholar says the world’s reaction over the years has amounted to antisemitism.
In an interview with The Algemeiner on Sunday, Manfred Gerstenfeld, author of the recently published book, The War of a Million Cuts: The Struggle against the Deligitimization of Israel and the Jews, and the Growth of New Anti-Semitism, called the lack of ceremony surrounding the mass murder “commemoration discrimination.”
“One can hardly imagine that if participants in the Olympics from a European or Arab country had been killed during the games, there would not have been official commemorations at subsequent games,” said Gerstenfeld, who was born in Austria, raised in Holland and moved to Israel in 1968. “The fact that the murdered Israeli athletes have not been officially commemorated seems indicative of double standards. It is one of many contemporary phenomena where the double standards that characterize antisemitism manifest themselves.”

The largest Jewish school in Victoria, Australiais set to become the first in the southeastern state to hire armed security guards, The Age reported on Sunday.
According to the report, Mount Scopus Memorial College’s three Melbourne campuses will be patrolled from this week forward by security personnel carrying guns, though Principal Rabbi James Kennard insisted the initiative was not in response to any specific threat.Rather, increased violence against Jewish facilities, from the Kosher supermarket attack in Paris and the shooting at a Copenhagen’s main synagogue earlier this year, to intense harassment on a school bus filled with Jewish students in Australia, triggered the school’s decision to employ armed guards.
“Our foremost priority remains the safety of our students and staff,” said Kennard, according to the report. He said the armed guards “best met” the co-ed school’s needs. Administrators from Mount Scopus, a kindergarten through 12th grade school with some 1530 students, consulted with local police before arranging the new security personnel.

So is there a fix?Israel faces a tough challenge. Few Americans can understand the vulnerability Israel feels surrounded by so many Arab countries that have pledged to eradicate its people. Fewer still understand the intricacies that exist in the relationships between the multiple factions of Jews, Christians and the Israeli-Arabs residing there. I didn't, until I spent two months living in Tel Aviv. Then, you have to take into account the media images we see on our televisions, and in our newspapers and magazines. We're shown photographs of cute Palestinian children standing atop bombed out rubble, pictures of IDF soldiers guarding a wall that separates families, or pictures of Israeli settlers holding fast to land they've been ordered by their own government to vacate—because those photos are sensational and evoke emotional response. Applying individual biases, many Americans see a young boy in need of help, or are reminded of the Berlin Wall, or of our own problems struggling to sort out U.S. immigration policy.
The way I see it, Israel has limited choices. First, it can simply wait for the pendulum to swing in the opposite direction. It's bound to happen at some point as the issues we're faced with in the Middle East continue to escalate. Second, Israel can work to improve its image. In social studies classes across America, kids are being taught about "presentism," defined as "an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences." To illustrate, children are shown a picture of a soldier with a gun near the heads of a young boy and his mother, evoking negative feelings toward the soldier. Pan out and show the whole picture, and we see the soldier is actually standing guard over the boy, his mother and a group of villagers as other soldiers pass out food and water. Somehow Israel needs to work with the media panning out on the photographs, putting a new spin on its image and showing more of the positives—perhaps by highlighting areas where Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, live together and thrive.

And not only his audiences. The roadshow, in which our murderer's clansman is described as "Palestinian human rights activist", is sponsored by three aspirational groups: Jewish Voice for Peace, Friends of Sabeel North America and Interfaith Peace-Builders. They, along with Amnesty International, have provided indispensable megaphones for his message for a long time.
We know the work of the first two only too well. Whatever they mean by "human rights" and "peace", the human rights of our family and the peace of our neighbors have no role in it.The promo for Bassem Tamimi's Ithaca NY whistle-stop says he will be speaking under the faux-noble title "Our Destiny is to Resist". It's a familiar-sounding phrase. The word 'resist' happens to be used over and over again by Ahlam Tamimi, the proud murderer of our daughter Malki, as Ms Tamimi describes the sheer joy of selecting a Jerusalem target that is filled with children - with religious Jewish children - and planting the bomb - a human bomb - so that it would explode at 2 in the afternoon on a summer vacation afternoon to ensure maximum devastation.
Resist is also part of the formal name of the death-cult terrorist organization Hamas and appears throughout its self-published apologetics.
We're sincerely hoping Ithacans turn out in large numbers. And when Bassem Tamimi is done with his speech, we hope (as we wrote here on Friday - "04-Sep-15: Mr. Human Rights Defender, a question if we may") someone will have the integrity, and courage, to ask this:

Bassem Tamimi, tell us in simple words: are you as delighted by your cousin Ahlam Tamimi's massacre of Jewish children as she is? Have you criticized it ever, anywhere? Will you condemn it here and now?

Sgt. Benjamin Anthony (IDF Res.), a veteran of the 2006 Lebanon War and founder and director of the NGO, Our Soldiers Speak, has condemned the radical Israeli Left for depriving Israeli soldiers of even the “most basic means” of self defense.
Anthony established Our Soldiers Speak in 2007; the NGO specializes in bringing IDF soldiers and officers to the campuses and communities of the English-speaking world. He told Tazpit that a soldier’s position should never be compromised.
A viral video showing an Israeli soldier being surrounded and attacked by women and children in the village of Nabi Saleh — while the soldier was attempting to apprehend a boy who had been throwing rocks — renewed the debate on defensive measures permissible to soldiers.Unaware of the potential threats approaching from behind, the soldier did not seek to defend himself, despite the fact that he was armed with a machine gun.

Palestinian Media Watch recently exposed that the Palestinian city of Nablus named a square after terrorist Naif Abu Sharakh, who was involved in numerous terror attacks, including a double suicide bombing killing 23 and injuring dozens in Tel Aviv in 2003. PMW's exposure of this terror glorification prompted Norwegian Councilman Mats Danielsen to call for his city Stavanger to sever ties with its sister city Nablus.
"Our friendship cities should share our values, norms and customs. This is proof of the contrary. Our sister Nablus honors terrorists," Councilman Danielsen stated to the Norwegian paper Rogalands Avis, which also reported that five schools in Stavanger have cooperated with schools in Nablus. [Rogalands Avis (Norway), Aug. 17, 2015]The monument honoring the terrorist in the square in Nablus is shaped as a map of "Palestine" that includes all of Israel as well as the PA areas. This is "a clear sign that the terrorist was working to remove Israel to make room for a Palestinian state. This would have meant that our second sister city Netanya [in Israel] is a legitimate target for terrorists who want to kill Jews," Councilman Danielsen remarked.

A poll released on Sept. 1 by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, a Palestinian NGO, showed that support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is down among Palestinians."It was clear from the poll that there has been a distinct setback in the level of support for and practice of boycott campaigns of Israeli products in general," the organization said. "The percentage of those who support the boycott of all Israeli projects dropped from 59.2% last March to 49.1% this August. Moreover, the percentage of those who support the boycott of Israeli settlement products only rose from 7.6% last March to 9.4% this August."The poll constitutes more proof, if any were needed, that BDS is a morally corrupt movement, which has only one goal on its agenda, the destruction of Israel, whereas the welfare of the Palestinians could not be further from its mind. If the people it is supposed to be helping do not even support it, the last fig leaf, as it were, falls to the ground.It is wholly unsurprising that Palestinians are less than enamored of the BDS movement, since they are the ones who suffer the consequences. In a little over a week, SodaStream will be closing its factory in the Maaleh Adumim Industrial Park in Judea, east of Jerusalem, and moving into its new factory in Lehavim in the Negev. While SodaStream has repeatedly denied that BDS had any influence on the move and said that it was due to a company reorganization dictated by economic considerations, the decision, announced in November 2014, was nevertheless widely seen as being a result of BDS pressure.

The European Union is set to decide whether to label goods produced by Jewish-owned business in Judea and Samaria, in a bid to allow consumers to single out such products for a "limited boycott" of Israel.European officials hope the move will place pressure on Israel to expel Jews living in those areas, as a prelude to establishing a Palestinian Arab state.
But Amir Dibon, owner of Shamir Salads in Barkan, Samaria, says those talking about boycotting "settlement goods" don't actually understand the realities on the ground.140 of his 150 employees are Palestinian, he said, and noted that a boycott of a company such as his would hurt them - and other Palestinians working in Israeli businesses - first and foremost.
The Palestinian Authority has few labor laws, which means employees are often mistreated and paid paltry salaries. As a result many Palestinian Arabs struggle to make a living under its corrupt rule - preferring to work at neighboring Israeli-owned businesses.
"They support their families with the salaries they get here. They get paid here four times more than they'd get paid in Ramllah or Shechem. It's the only way they can support their families."

Much of the Middle East is burning, but official Europe remains fixated on Israel. In Brussels, Stockholm, the Hague, Copenhagen, and London, the mythologies of the 1970s remain unchallenged, perhaps because dealing with the real threats to Europe from the chaotic Middle East reality – ISIS, Syria, desperate refugees, Iran, etc. – is overwhelming. So instead of focusing on critical issues, European Union officials are preparing to escalate their war on Israel through laws requiring the labeling of products produced in the non-existent “Palestinian Occupied Territories.”
This obsession is advanced by the activities of senior European officials, such as John Gatt-Rutter, who is finishing a four year term as the European Union’s Ambassador to the West Bank, Gaza, and UNRWA (the UN refugee agency that has perpetuated the Mideast conflict and anti-Israel hatred for more than 65 years). A veteran Arabist from Malta, Gatt-Rutter had previously headed the EU’s Mashraq/Maghreb (MaMa) policy group, and advised ex-EU foreign policy head Javier Solana on the Middle East Peace Process.
During his tenure, Gatt-Rutter reinforced the prevailing European mythologies while funds for anti-peace and anti-Israel NGOs continued to flow. His lengthy article published in the Palestine-Israel Journal (2015), optimistically entitled “The European Union’s Role in Facilitating a Resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” is a reflection of his policies, beliefs, and actions over the past four years.

French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that while Paris backs EU plans to label products from Israeli settlements, it opposes any boycott of Israel.
“The French and European diplomatic position is clear and has not changed and will not change,” he told reporters at the start of a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank.
The labeling plan has been blasted by Israel, which says it is the target of an international delegitimization campaign.But Macron was adamant that France opposes campaigns such as that of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which aims to put political and economic pressure on Israel over its presence in the West Bank.

University campuses have not yet reached that point. When advocates for Israel confuse a few loud student council members, a few loud protesters (often the same student council members) along with some vocal professors, for a majority of academics and students, they are neglecting the real battle which still must be fought.
Most students, and indeed, I would wager, most professors, don’t actually care that much (nor know that much) about Israel, or the Middle East in general. Even students who are activists for Israel (and, I would imagine, for the BDS movement) spend most of their time entirely unconcerned with the Middle East, myself included.
Campus anti-Semitism, and Israel’s perception among students are incredibly important areas for activism, precisely because of the general apathy and ignorance that are present on campuses. There is no better or potentially receptive audience for activists for Israel to educate on the history and facts of the current conflict than students.
When we allow ourselves to imagine that the masses of undecided and unsure students have already taken up pitchforks against every Israel-supporting student on campus, we concede this massive opportunity to influence future policy on Israel to the BDS movement.Instead of kvetching about how BDS has already taken over campuses, activists and concerned parents alike must instead work to prevent such a thing happening. The time has never been better.

South African Jewish groups expressed outrage on Monday over reported plans by the ruling African National Congress to consider outlawing dual citizenship for South African citizens in an effort to stop them from holding Israeli citizenship and potentially serving in the IDF.
South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper first reported that the ANC's general council will meet in October to discuss the issue. While the ban would reportedly be meant to target those with dual Israeli citizenship, millions of citizens of other countries would be affected as well.
According to the Times, the initiative to prevent Jewish South Africans from holding dual citizenship and serving in the IDF came from the head of the ANCs National Executive Committee on International Relations, Obed Bapela. The ANC is also slated to discuss cracking down on private sector ties with Israel, the report added.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federations issued a joint statement condemning the reported proposal.The groups said that Bapela had "undermined the very core value of South Africa’s democracy by proposing a change to our law purely to prevent one sector of our society, in this case, South African Jews from having a relationship with Israel."
The South African Jewish groups questioned whether the initiative was supported by the ANC and President Jacob Zuma, or was held solely by extremists elements within the party.

The Israeli national soccer team played to a 0-0 tie on Sunday against Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, U.K.Israel’s presence, however, had enraged anti-Israel activists, who staged a protest against the arrival of the team.
Football Against Apartheid (FAA), which states that it aims to “bring together football and activists campaigning against Apartheid,” posted the itinerary of the protest and the demands it planned to make on soccer associations regarding Israel.
“We’ll deliver a letter and speech calling on Wales and the FAA to support the call to EXPEL apartheid Israel from FIFA. We’ll march to protest the presence of an apartheid Israeli football team in Britain and especially in Cardiff City.”In an interview last week with Tazpit, Guto Bebb, a British Conservative MP for the Welsh constituency of Aberconwy, described the organizers of the protest as “idiots.”

In response to the inevitable voices protesting the most egalitarian and diverse team in the Middle East Arieh Miller, executive director of the Zionist Federation, declared:“We are here to celebrate an incredible football game between Israel and Wales and welcome the Israeli national team and the fans from Israel to this amazing city.
“We feel the match has the ability to go over and above politics. If some individuals - a small, very vocal minority - choose to bring politics into sport, that really is shame.
“The Israeli national team is the only team in the Middle East where you have Jews, Muslims and Christians all playing side by side with the same shirt in the same colours for the same manager and the common cause of beating their opponents.“Unfortunately, those protesters are trying to silence that coexistence and cooperation when in actual fact that’s the exact message we should all be promoting for peace.”

Sure, it could have been poor fundamentals, a lack of skill or just plain being evenly matched, but if you ask some in the British press, the reason Wales’s soccer team wasn’t able to defeat Israel Sunday night was a dose of Jewish black magic.A series of stories in the British press have focused on strange hand gestures from blue and white striker Tal Ben Haim as the reason a Gareth Bale free kick at the end of the Euro 2016 qualifier went high.
“It is clear higher powers, perhaps even mystical forces, were at work,” the Wales online website wrote, in what can only be hoped was a display of that famous Welsh humor. “As Bale runs up to take the free-kick Ben Haim looks to be casting some malevolent spell over the effort, putting a curse on the ball’s chances of actually hitting the net.”“Gareth Bale freekick jinxed by Tal Ben Haim witchcraft,” reads a headline in the Telegraph on a story by JJ Bull, who is apparently eager to live up to his name. The Independent had a similar account of the “jinxed” free kick.

Could the BBC not have found an illustrative photograph related to soccer? An image of a Welsh or Israeli soccer player? A panoramic view of the stadium?Instead we see two protesters holding a Palestinian flag, a political image that should have no place on the BBC Sport website.
As for the match itself, Israel came away with a very credible 0-0 draw to keep their own qualifying hopes alive.

A Palestinian boy on his way to school this morning accidentally hurt his toe on a protruding piece of rock in the road, drawing renewed attention to the plight of Palestinian youth forced to watch where they are walking while outside under Israeli occupation.
Journalists converged on the village through the morning, competing for camera angles and access to Abed Aziz, the boy’s father. Activists from European NGOs set up a podium for a press conference in the family’s front yard so that Aziz, 42, could hold forth for the cameras.
“Ahmad was minding his own business, walking to school, even playing along the way, as children are supposed to do,” recalled a tearful Aziz. “Suddenly the entire village heard him gasp and yell, ‘Ow!’ and the next thing you know, he was yelping and holding his foot.” The father of seven held up a scuffed sneaker. “This… this is all that’s left of his shoe.”
“He’s had that toe his whole life!” wailed Aziz, whose older sons had to support him from either side. Other family members rushed to help, slightly injuring eight cameramen who had been transferred from covering the Syrian conflict.

First, Stockham’s claim that there was “almost no media coverage” about the 2012 attack which left six members of the same Palestinian family (including two children) injured is not true. The story was covered by multiple Israeli media outlets, including the Jerusalem Post, Ynet, Times of Israel and Haaretz.
Second, save one story (written by an anonymous writer) at the far-left site +972, it’s difficult to know how Stockham can suggest that there was “incontrovertible evidence” as to the guilt of the suspects. Though several Israeli youths arrested and questioned about the crime were eventually released without charge, the immediate collection of forensic evidence by the police and the Shin Bet, and the aggressive tactics during the interrogation of the youths, seems to contradict the charge that the case wasn’t taken seriously.Third, note that Stockham strangely suggests that Netanyahu ‘handled’ both cases differently. It’s unclear what exactly she means, but it’s worth noting that the prime minister naturally didn’t personally investigate either attack. However, certainly on a moral level, Netanyahu handled the cases very much the same. As with the firebombing attack over the summer, the prime minister strongly condemned the 2012 attack near Bat Ayin and instructed the Shin Bet to launch an investigation. He also vowed to “closely follow the medical treatment received by those who were injured” and pledged to provide “whatever additional assistance” to the family that was necessary.Finally, Stockham asks the following question:Will Netanyahu admit, with benefit of hindsight, that the Riyada case was a sham – or does he believe that determining the morality of deliberately burning children is at Israel’s discretion alone? If it is the latter, does he also apply this thinking in war?

Thanks to a lot of hard work from blogger Elder of Ziyon and the NGO UN Watch, the issue of antisemitic images posted on social media by some UNRWA employees has recently been brought to public attention.“UN Watch released a new report today documenting 12 different Facebook accounts operated by UNRWA officials that openly incite to antisemitism and terrorism, and urged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNRWA chief Pierre Krähenbühl to terminate the responsible officials, condemn the offending posts, and establish a commission of inquiry, comprised of representatives of top donor states to investigate the culture of impunity for perpetrators of racism and incitement that pervades UNRWA.”BBC audiences, however, have no idea of the existence of this story because the corporation (which of course frequently promotes the UNRWA agenda) has not been among the mainstream media outlets which reported it – despite being urged by UNRWA’s spokesman not to do so.

A 17-year-old Jewish teenager was beaten unconscious at a train stop in Manchester in a suspected anti-Semitic attack on Saturday night, the Manchester Evening News reported.Three other Jews — two 18-year-olds and a 20-year-old — were also hurt in the assault. Police are treating the incident as an anti-Semitic attack.
The younger victim was still hospitalized on Monday and was “suffering from a suspected bleed to the brain,” according to the report.
Police said the group were approached by three men as they waited at the Bowker Vale Metrolink station in northern Manchester at around 11:30 p.m. The assailants hurled verbal abuse at the victims and then physically assaulted them.

Islamophobic and anti-Semitic hate crimes in London have soared over the last year, official figures released on Monday showed, with global events apparently contributing to the rise.
Police recorded 816 Islamophobic offences in the 12 months to July, up more than 70 percent from 478 in the previous 12 months.Anti-Semitic crime surged 93 percent over the same period, with 499 incidents recorded compared with 258 the previous year.
London's Metropolitan Police said "world events" may have contributed to the increase, while there was also a rise in incidents on holy days when Muslim and Jewish communities were more "visible."
A willingness by victims to report such crimes and improved ability of police to identify them were also factors, Scotland Yard said.
"In light of recent world events, we know communities in London are feeling anxious," a spokesman for the force said."Local Neighbourhood Policing Teams are providing a more targeted presence in key areas at key times, such as school routes, holy days and prayer times to give extra reassurance." (h/t Jewess)

A teenage boy in Spain said he was attacked by three men who beat him and carved a swastika and the number “88” — which neo-Nazis use to signify “Heil Hitler,” 8 being the numeral value of the letter H — on his forearm.
The attack allegedly occurred last month in the Spanish city of Bilbao in the autonomous Basque Country on the morning of Friday, August 28.It is not clear if the boy, 17, is Jewish and, according to the Spanish press, police have doubts about the veracity of his account.
Basque Country does not have a sizable Jewish community, nor have any Jewish groups come forward to condemn the attack.The alleged victim was not identified, but a photo purporting to be of his injured face and mutilated arm were circulating in the Spanish and Basque media.

Q: Are Israel and Egypt competing for the same markets?A: I don't think it has to be a source of conflict because basically, for Egypt, most of this will go to the domestic market and most of Leviathan will go to the Israeli domestic market. I don't think it's a source of conflict. If we were looking for export projects with what is left from the domestic market requirements, then pooling these together could make a lot of commercial sense. Each domestic market needs the gas, so I don't see this as competition or a source of friction.
Let's remember what is happening in Egypt right now. The facts are that [the Egyptians] are currently fighting the same enemies ... the U.S. is, namely the ISIS. At the same time [Egypt] has kept its peace treaty with Israel. This is a country where the Obama administration has held back arms shipments to them, and there is not at a high level of cooperation with them in the security field.
This has left the el-Sisi regime partially isolated. Meanwhile, Russia has been trying to move in and is courting traditional American clients like ... Saudi Arabia and Egypt to fill this vacuum.This gas discovery is extremely significant. I personally see this as a big boost to the stability of el-Sisi's regime, along with the presence of these Western oil companies and their investments there. This is in the interests of both the West and Israel.
I also believe that at the end of the day Jordan will import gas from both Egypt and Israel. Of course there is great commercial logic [in] common exports from both Egypt and Israel -- working together to reach various other export markets, but there would be a number of ... hurdles along the way.

According to a report by newsite Business Insider last week, Tel Aviv University ranked among the top 20 institutions of higher education with alumni employed at Google.
The report, citing a search conducted using LinkedIn's University Finder function, placed Tel Aviv University at spot 20, with 288 graduates listed as employees of the global Internet superpower.
Topping the list was Stanford University, with 2,275 alumni employees of the Internet search giant. Trailing closely as second on the ranking was another Bay Area institution - University of California Berkeley, with 2,039 alumni.
According to purported alumni data, Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University placed third on the search with 1,182 former students employed by Google.Tel Aviv University was one of only three universities outside the United State present on Business Insider's top 20 list, and the only one in the Middle East or Asia.
The Jerusalem Post searched an expanded version of the list on Monday, which featured eight Israeli universities and colleges among the top 30 schools with alumni working for Google.

A collection of Torah scrolls and maps was donated to San Diego State University by a private donor.The collection includes more than 70 Torah scrolls and Torah fragments that are hundreds of years old, from around the world — including Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey and Morocco, according to the university.
Donor Howard Singer, who is a member of the university’s Parent’s Association, said he spent about 13 years amassing the collection, searching for and purchasing the artifacts while traveling on business for IBM, according to the university.
“So many of the Torahs I bought are beautiful and in some cases, where the scrolls are written on animal hides, the processes used for making these has been lost,” Singer said. “Even today, when you look at them, the artistry and craftsmanship is almost a lost art because they’re very old, and yet they look like they were done yesterday, which is just amazing to me.”The collection is worth nearly $500,000, according to the university.

Only the occasional sniffle or wiping of damp eyes could be heard over the hushed voices of the friends and families of the fallen. Dozens of families and comrades of Israeli soldiers killed in the 1967 Six-Day War gathered last month on Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill to mark the opening of a new hall honoring the 182 soldiers who died in the battle for Israel’s capital.Ammunition Hill, the site of some of the fiercest fighting in the Six-Day War, was long neglected as a memorial site despite being a monument to the Paratrooper Brigade, whose soldiers captured its trenches and bunkers from the Jordanian Army at a great loss of life.
At the solemn ceremony on Aug. 5, visitors from around the country came to pay their respects and have a first look at the commemoration hall. Among them were veterans of the war, widows, children and grandchildren, and an IDF soldier in uniform—a paratrooper like the 36 who fell on this hallowed ground.
“The opening of this new hall marks the beginning of a new era for Ammunition Hill,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement. “With the help of Jewish National Fund donors and the government of Israel, Jerusalem’s hallowed battle ground now has a remarkable monument that properly honors those who fell there in the Six-Day War. It is my sincere hope that this new memorial serves as a comfort to the families of the soldiers and as a tool for educating future generations.”

The famous Guggenheim Museum in New York has a blog that says it "tells the Guggenheim’s evolving story, and offers insights on vis...

Hasbys!

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون

This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 12 years and over 25,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

Compliments

Omri: "Elder is one of the best established and most respected members of the jblogosphere..."Atheist Jew:"Elder of Ziyon probably had the greatest impression on me..."Soccer Dad: "He undertakes the important task of making sure that his readers learn from history."AbbaGav: "A truly exceptional blog..."Judeopundit: "[A] venerable blog-pioneer and beloved patriarchal figure...his blog is indispensable."Oleh Musings: "The most comprehensive Zionist blog I have seen."Carl in Jerusalem: "...probably the most under-recognized blog in the JBlogsphere as far as I am concerned."Aussie Dave: "King of the auto-translation."The Israel Situation:The Elder manages to write so many great, investigative posts that I am often looking to him for important news on the PalArab (his term for Palestinian Arab) side of things."Tikun Olam: "Either you are carelessly ignorant or a willful liar and distorter of the truth. Either way, it makes you one mean SOB."Mondoweiss commenter: "For virulent pro-Zionism (and plain straightforward lies of course) there is nothing much to beat it."Didi Remez: "Leading wingnut"

feed

counter

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by those providing comments on this website are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Elder of Ziyon. EoZ is not responsible for the content of the comments.

You are legally liable for the content of your comments that you submit to this site.

By submitting a comment to this website, you warrant that we are not responsible, or liable of any of the content posted by you and you agree to indemnify us from any and all claims and liabilities (including legal fees) which could arise from your comments submitted to the site.